Prillaman, Laine In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Prillaman, Laine

In the story, ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck uses archetypes To make the story have meaning. Steinbeck plays with the archetypes to show how people do change. To make them more like people and less like characters in a fairytale. Characters like Lennie, Curley’s wife, and George are perfect examples of how people change in either good or bad ways. As we start the story every person seems innocent and quickly changes when their true colors begin to show. During the book, we meet Curley’s wife a temptress whom everyone sees through and as we see later on, she turns into a damsel. Curley’s wife got bored one afternoon at home and decided to take a trip into the workplace when all she began to do was stir up trouble, “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny." (steinbeck 120-121) Curley’s wife was being told what to do in a place where she knows her superiority. She was being a temptress in her ways but then made sure crooks knew that she could get him caught and made sure he never questions her again. Crooks sat down because he knew she was right. At the beginning of the book Curley’s wife is nothing but a cruel, wicked temptress whom everyone hates but can’t

The 9th rule of the Ranch Fight Club is, if someone challenges you, you must fight, "Don't let him pull you in—but—if the son-of-a-bitch socks you—let 'him have it." (steinbeck 131) Now this isn't a quote from George but it clearly states his intentions. George from the beginning treated everyone as if they had already socked him once i the head and is out to get him. He had once been a hero to lennie and his aunt for being in charge and taking care of lennie but then, he's lost all sense of humanity unlike all the rest. He becomes this horrid guy whom no one wants to be with but know that they have to keep him on their side because he’s bad news if